Lagers finding way in an ale world

On a summer day, it's tough to think of anything more satisfying

June 19, 2011|By Josh Noel, Tribune Newspapers

If you've enjoyed a craft beer lately, it probably wasn't a lager.

There are a few reasons for that: Ales are cheaper to make (their fermentation requires less time and higher temperatures) and more robustly flavored, and their boldness is a more profound reaction to mainstream beer drinking, the vast majority of which is pale lagers (hello, Bud Light).

When the craft beer movement took root, therefore, it largely came in the form of ales. Lagers — a style developed in southern Germany in the 16th century producing a simple, smooth flavor — have largely been left behind.

The craft pendulum, however, is swinging back. Many major brewers — such as Bell's, Dogfish Head, Lagunitas, Avery and Victory — have at least one lager in their portfolio. Chicago's Metropolitan Brewing makes primarily crisp, brilliantly executed lagers.

Then there are Coney Island beers. Sensing a hole in the craft lager market, Jeremy Cowan — who had previously launched He'Brew Jewish-themed ales ("The chosen beer") — started a line of robust lagers four years ago.

He's up to six, plus collaborations and limited-edition releases. Cowan said his lagers were largely inspired by the middling lagers some others produce.

"They're usually a brewery's least interesting beer," he said. "We're still battling the position in craft beer that lagers are boring, pale yellow fizzy beers that are interchangeable."

Cowan's lagers would probably appall 16th century Germans — who clung to a mere four ingredients, water, barley, yeast and hops — with recipes that include up to eight malts, 10 hops and ingredients like ginger and orange peel.

The approach is almost alelike in its audaciousness, and has included aging the beer in bourbon barrels and dry hopping (the process of adding aromatic hops after fermentation).

"We wanted each one of those beers to be referencing a style but with a twist," Cowan said. "We use the word lager as a point of familiarity, but once we rope them in, we turn them sideways and get them on a different track."

Yet at heart, they're still lagers, with a breadlike and yeasty nose and midtier, refreshing body. The Coney Island series, which includes a recently released summer 12-pack, has put Cowan on the leading edge of craft lagers.